Will Windows 8 and Hybrid Devices Succeed? Developers Will Decide

With Windows 8 getting out to a slower start than anticipated, the key question on people’s minds is: Will Windows 8 be a success or failure?

Even the Economist is running a poll on this question. Although I am bullish on Windows 8 -- in fact we just launched Windows 8 support for Tiggzi, our cloud based mobile platform -- and I'd like to share what I believe to be two key factors in determining the success or failure of Windows 8: market acceptance of hybrid devices and Microsoft’s ability to attract developers to the platform.

Market Acceptance of Hybrid Devices

With Windows 8, Microsoft is betting that a new market for hybrid devices will develop. By “hybrid,” I mean devices that double as both a tablet and laptop: a single device that supports both capabilities. If this market develops, it is a great way for Microsoft to leverage its incumbency in laptops and enter the tablet space. Although the notion of a hybrid device sounds great at first glance, it is not clear that a single device can deliver a great user experience for two very different capabilities (touch and mobile versus keyboard and fixed).

Enter the Surface

Microsoft cares so deeply about the success of their hybrid devices that it decided to compete with its own hardware partners with the launch of the Surface. The device is of course the prototypical hybrid device. With a cover that doubles as a keyboard, the device can be used as both a tablet and a laptop. If you look at the commercials for the Surface, it is clear that Microsoft is betting on the cover/keyboard as the main differentiator. But there are other Windows 8 hybrid devices on the market as well.

I tested the Surface myself and was not convinced about the use of the cover as my regular laptop keyboard. I felt I was not productive enough typing on such a keyboard. It’s great to have the keyboard when I’m on the go, but I would still need a regular laptop (a Mac in my case) when in the office. But perhaps future hybrid devices will be able to crack the code and meet both use cases. I’m sure that designers in Redmond are working hard on that problem.

Apple is of course betting against hybrid devices. Apple is optimizing iOS and the iPad to offer the best possible experience as a tablet while focusing on OS X for laptops and desktops. Apple believes that the use cases for tablets and laptops are so different, that each requires a dedicated platform in order to offer the best experience.

Microsoft’s Ability to Attract Developers to Windows 8

Without a good catalog of apps in the store, Windows 8 will be doomed. Period. There are now just over 20,000 apps in the store. Although Microsoft claims that 46 of the top 50 apps are already on Windows 8, key apps such as Facebook, Pandora, and Twitter are still missing.

The issue for developers is increased fragmentation. With Windows 8, developers now need to target yet another platform, on top of iOS and Android. I believe they will. Rather than target each operating system separately, developers will rely on platforms such as Tiggzi, to create apps across operating systems. This is why we have partnered with Microsoft to enable our community to easily create new Windows 8 apps or port existing apps to Windows 8.

The addition of Windows 8 support to the Tiggzi platform includes the option to create a Windows Store app with support for native capabilities such as Live Tiles and Snap view, as well as Share and Search charm integration.

Developers will be able to take advantage of Tiggzi's drag-and-drop visual builder, with full preview capabilities for such apps. Once the apps are complete, users will be able to export projects to Visual Studio as Windows Store-ready before making them publicly available.

Have your say in the comments section below: Will a cross-OS platform like Tiggzi's make you think twice about developing for Windows 8?

Max Katz is the head of community and developer relations for Tiggzi (http://tiggzi.com), a cloud-based HTML5, jQuery Mobile and PhoneGap mobile app builder. He loves trying out new and cool REST API's in mobile apps.